Death Note tell-tale heart
by IputBellainthewitchelm
Summary: Tell-Tale Heart. With L and Light. Contains insanity, murder, zombification, and so much more.


**Hello.** **This** **is a story following the plot of the Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe, using the Death Note characters Light and L (and a little bit with the police force). I also attempted to use different words than Poe did while still choosing one's that fit with the story. I don't own Death Note or the Tell-Tale Heart. They belong to their respective authors.**

 **With that out of the way, a short warning: Murder, insanity, LxLight if you squint. Zombification. Light being extremely long-winded. Enjoy and review!**

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Yes, I have been, and am nervous, but there is no cause to claim me mad. In fact, this recent spate of events made clear to me all things known to man, cheifest of which is my very purpose in life- to scrub clean this earth, wash of the filth of humanity... But second only to this newfound sense of justice was a sharpening of sight. I saw deep into the souls- yes, the souls!- of men! I stared down the fiercest of demons, and indeed, I defeated them. And you presume to doubt my sanity? Watch closely as I recall these past events without a hint- a hint!- of emotion.

Now, I cannot say exactly how I resolved to purify humanity, but once given the tools to undertake this great task, and undertake it discreetly and on a grand scale, I delivered justice swiftly and without remorse.

But there was a man- only one!- of equal- perhaps greater!- intelligence than I. And in order to defeat him- for he desired to defeat me-, I had to play innocent, pretend- only ever pretend- to join forces with him. I had no further motive than self preservation. He stared into my soul, and I had to kill him, you see, before he took my soul in his hands and ripped it out of my very body, damning me with no hopes of absolution.

And you look at me now and I see the condemnation in _your_ soul. You see me, and you see a madman. You think we are one and the same. Mad men, however, act with reckless abandon. _I_ planned carefully every instance of my plan. All contingencies were considered. And in the days before I took this man's life, I was kinder to him than I ever had been before. I cleared myself of suspicions. And always, once he had retired to his chambers, around the stroke of midnight, I crept into his room. So engrossed in his task he was, he paid no mind to me, standing behind his chair. Each night, as I inched my way into his room, following close behind me was a monster with powers quite in-credible! A demon! A demon it was!-and I had it entirely in my control, so completely submissive it was. It would give even it's life at my slightest command. And indeed, 'twas what I would have it do!

But this man was truly one of extreme intelligence, and knowing I stood behind him as I did, suspected I was up to some suspicious task. And so I left. Each night for seven nights, I left, returning only the next morning, as if to rouse him. But he was already awake, never so much as blinking away the sleep from his eyes.

And on this eighth night, I felt with greater conviction than ever before, that tonight I would kill this man, merely a small step in my plans. Soon the world would be free of all criminals, from the common shoplifter to the mass murderer. These dregs of humanity would be washed away, and my very name would inspire such fear in others that they would never date commit even petty crime! And this man in the chair before me had not an inkling, however miniscule, of my true intentions! I became so overwhelmed by the sheer thrill- yes, the thrill!- of it all, that a faint cackle burst out of me. He turned to me, and saw me there, laughing. So I attempted to clear his suspicions of me by engaging in light conversation. I claimed insomnia these past eight nights, and questioned him on his work. He responded to my small talk, never suspecting that I had signalled to the demon, who slipped into the darkness. And still, this man of supreme intelligence saw no logical cause for fear. Yet, in the depths of his mortal soul, the feeling rose up, a great wall of unexplained terror. This man was in unsurpassable control of his emotions, and stifled the urge to scream. Not a trace of fear showed on his face, nor in his deep black eyes. But seconds later, the demon's work had been done, and his heart began to seize and crash within the walls of his chest cavity. And finally, he let loose a scream. It was the pure embodiment of terror. And then he died. He was still! His eyes were closed! Dead he was, stone dead! Never again would he nearly uncover my great plans! Never again would I watch him eat strange foods in strange ways! Never be stunned by his extreme intelligence! There came a strange emptiness inside my heart. I was surprised, indeed! Why should I care for him? He was my truest enemy! But I shook away these strange stirrings of guilt- I equated them to having finally overcome the one I had for so long battled- and set him down on his unused bed. His eyes remained closed. He would never see me ascend to the throne of justice. I stood and made my way to the next room, where the demon had skunk away to die. I hid away the murder tool- if it could be called that- and swept the demon's ashes into the fireplace.

A knocking at my door broke the quiet of the night. I opened the door to three men, and entreated them to enter. They introduced themselves as detectives. A neighbor had heard a scream, and they had come to investigate. I told them how I had heard a thump in the night; it had been my colleague in his death throes. The scream had been mine upon finding him dead. The poor man was under so much stress, I said, and his heart must have given out. He overworked himself, I said, and bade them come see the body.

He lay as I had left him, covered completely by a sheet. But the youngest of the detectives lifted it to see the dead man's face, I shrieked. His eyes were wide open! Startled, the detective dropped the sheet. Upon my insistence that the corpse had moved, all three men claimed his eyes had been shut. Peeling back the blankets showed them to be closed, and the body too hard for the lids to peel back. They dismissed my vision as fatigue, of shock, or a number of various other ailments only natural for a man in my position. But as we stood conversing, to my horror, I saw the cold corpse rise stiffly from the bed! The three men stood facing away from it, but I saw. I could only watch, dumbstruck, as the very body of my deepest rival reanimated! It stood, swaying as if disoriented. It shuffled towards me. Could these men not hear it's footfall? Not feel it's cold breath on their skin? This- this monster!- came nearer and nearer to me! And these fool detectives paid it no mind! They must know! Know I had killed him! And they would sit idly by as I was dragged down to Hell! And the corpse came from behind me and wrapped his cold clammy arms around my neck! And I could stand it no longer!

"Save me!" I shrieked, "I admit to the deed! I admit it all! I am Kira, killer of criminals, saviour of good men! I killed this man, none other than the great detective L! Just save me, save me from this spirit!"

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 **Well, there's the end! Hope you enjoyed, please feel free to ask questions, comment, or otherwise converse with me! Just click on the _Comments_ box thing below, and type to your heart's content.**


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